The Hindu : Sport / Olympic Games : Athletes' biggest concern is winning, not security

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Thursday, Aug 12, 2004

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Sport - Olympic Games

Athletes' biggest concern is winning, not security

By Dave Montgomery

ATHENS, AUG. 11. As one of 550 U.S. Olympic athletes in Athens, 17-year-old Nicole Kubes of Texas will be encased in a cocoon of security that one might expect at an international gathering for heads of state.

Marksmen stand vigil on rooftops. A giant airship patrols the skies. Patriot missile batteries are arrayed against possible air attacks.

Scores of other elaborate measures are in place to help ensure the safety of athletes and spectators at the first Summer Olympics since 9/11. But while planners worry about the devastating potential of a terrorist assault, young competitors such as Kubes are keeping their focus on a single objective: winning.

``I'm not concerned at all,'' Kubes, a member of the U.S. judo team, said last week as she prepared to leave for Athens, expressing confidence in the massive security build-up. ``I'm pretty sure they're going to have that under control.''

In spending $1.5 billion to fortify the world's most prestigious sports event, Olympics organisers hope that all the athletes — and for that matter, the rest of the world — share Kubes' comfort level. With the opening ceremony approaching, Greek officials were eager to shift from hand-wringing over terrorism to the Games' true purpose — sporting excellence.

``They will be absolutely protected,'' said Petros Tsarouchis, spokesman for the Greek Embassy in Washington. ``We have created a really secure environment for them to focus on their athletic duties. We don't want them to be distracted by any means.''

Elaborate security

The $1.5 billion expenditure is four times more than that spent on security for the 2000 Sydney Games and Greece is financing one of the most elaborate and innovative security networks ever.

A double-perimeter fence surrounds the Athletes' Village in the Athens suburbs. More than 1,400 surveillance cameras adorn lampposts throughout the city. Five U.S. Patriot missile launchers, along with gunboats, helicopters and NATO aircraft, form a defensive shield against possible attack from air or sea.

Greece was still building up its security force with the countdown towards opening day. Officials have deployed 70,000 soldiers and police, primarily in Athens, and 35,000 additional forces were brought in as back-up less than two weeks before the start.

``You know security is really tight when even athletes can't get into the village,'' said diver Kimiko Soldati, describing the X-ray scans, baggage searches and ID checks required for entry into the Olympic Village. ``You can't get anywhere without a credential.''

Soldati, in a telephone interview from Athens, said ``guards are all over the place'' and unfailingly ride with athletes aboard buses whenever they leave their residential community. Olympic officials also brief incoming athletes on security, instructing them to always employ a ``buddy system'' and never venture out alone, she said.

Bob Condron, who heads the media team for the U.S. Olympic Committee, described Athens as ``one of the most well-guarded places in the world,'' with armed security forces on virtually every downtown street corner.

Good atmosphere

At the same time, Condron, a veteran of 12 Olympics, complimented Greek officials for keeping the focus on the Games, even amid the pervasive presence of security. `It's a good atmosphere,'' he said. ``It's not oppressive.''

Accordingly, the athletes have been able to remain ``totally focussed'' on winning medals without being preoccupied with the spectre of suicide attackers or car bombs, Condron said.

For most of the U.S. Olympians, like their counterparts from across the globe, years of preparation have left little room for worry.

``Even if I knew the worst was going to happen, I'd still go,'' said Glenn Eller, who will compete in the shooting competition with his Italian-made Perazzi 12-gauge shotgun. ``You can't let it stop you.''

Dana Vollmer, a 16-year-old swimmer, exemplifies the intense competitiveness that drives a typical Olympian. A swimmer from the age of three, she refuses to be content with anything less than first place. Bronze medals hang in her bathroom at home, over motivational inscriptions reading ``Loser'' and ``Only I can change this.''

Vollmer said she has given little thought to any threat of terrorism and is concentrating solely on returning home with a gold medal. ``I don't like being beaten,'' she explained. ``That motivates me more than anything else.''

Worries may be more pronounced back in the United States, where the families of Olympic competitors are exposed to a drumbeat of news about security in Athens.

Sherian Richards, a cosmetology teacher and the mother of volleyball player Stacy Sykora, said she believes that ``everything will be all right at the Olympics'' but acknowledges that she sometimes nags her daughter about potential danger.

``I'm speaking from a mother's point of view,'' Richards said. ``When I start asking questions, she says, `Mom, give it a rest.' I say, `That's my job. It's my job to worry.'''

Ed Wilkinson, a certified public accountant, confesses having similar anxieties about his daughter Laura, a 26-year-old diver who is aiming for another gold medal after her victory in the Sydney Olympics.

``We always worry about it, no matter where she goes,'' Wilkinson said. ``We're much more concerned about it this time because of the way the world is these days, and Athens has always been a hotbed of terrorism.'' Accordingly, Wilkinson said, family members may temper their boisterous attitude as U.S. spectators at the Games. ``We're just going to try to be a little more low-profile than we were last time,'' he said. ``We had all the T-shirts and buttons and flags before.

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